Thank you Kim Yuna, for bringing back JUSTICE back to this sport!
1 Yuna KIM 218.31 SP 1st (BV31.63 GOE5.16) FP 1st (BV58.22 GOE16.51)
2 Carolina KOSTNER 197.89 SP 2nd (BV29.93 GOE4.08) FP 3rd (BV50.75 GOE10.59)
3 Mao ASADA 196.47 SP 6th (BV27.15 GOE2.55) FP 2nd (BV62.30 GOE3.66)
I just realized that even with the missed jumps and downgrades, Mao still achieved the highest base value of the three in the free program. That's just mad. Mao should just scale down on her jump content and aim to skate clean.
She should even stop practicing the triple-axel altogether, and just focus on perfecting her flip and lutz so that she can have a triple-triple combo in her short. She's already got similar GOEs to Yuna this time except the flip and lutz. As long as she can get the quality of her edge jumps up, and as long as Yuna doesn't do a loop, Mao would be able to beat her.
Also as I noted earlier---the burden for one skater to get three spots is VERY hih. In fact, has any other skater managed to get three spots in the past? I honestly don't think so....
What benefit would Mao gain by giving up the Axel? She landed it in both programs, fully rotated, and did pretty much the same at 4CC. It was never her 3A letting her down, it was her flip and loop that betrayed her. Just like Yu-na's 3Lz-3T is less a worry for her than either the flip or Salchow, for Mao the worry is the 3-3 not the 3A.
We tend to think of the triple-axel as just another triple jump, but it's not. It's like a quad, and we see how with men just putting in a quad affects the rest of the program because doing one just takes so much out of them physically and mentally. So if Mao took out the triple-axel, she would have the energy to do everything else perfectly and get positive GOEs on everything. As long as her potential BV is higher than her competitors by say 3 points, and as long as she can get the equal amount of GOEs to her competitors, she would beat them.
Not having a 3A never stopped her from popping the SP loop at nationals, or underrotating her flips early in the season. There wasn't a single problem with Mao's programs that didn't appear while she wasn't trying the 3A. The removal of the old leveled spiral sequence has done more harm to her programs than the 3A ever did.
They had bad programs for starters. Alena's and Tuk's programs were pretty drab, as were their costumes. Adelina's was better, but having Christina Aguilera's background screeching didn't help. As much as I do like these Russian girls, it's like they need some experts in taste and style to come in and fix them.
I also used to insist that Mao should give up on her triple axel but recently I'm not sure about it. Someone on twitter said 'Asking Mao to stop doing 3axel is like asking a pitcher who can throw 100miles/s with a lack of control to slow down the speed and concentrate on his control.' I can understand even if she never give up on her axel and cling on to such a slight chance. It's the thing that made her special in the first place and if I were in her shoes, it would feel like giving up my whole life.
That's impossible. She did 6 clean triples. No men has ever done only 6 triples and come close to 160.
Her GOE would tank if she competes in the men event.
Her PCS would also tank. Let's get real, her SS is not the same level at the top 6 men. Not even close.
It's not even like it's a small chance. She started going for it in the last 2 competitions, rotating it fully 3 times out of 4 (some commentators would even say 4/4). Even if she 2-foots or overrotates she gets tons of points for it. The last 2 competitions have demonstrated she should absolutely go for it in her current state.
Movements not fully extended, toes not pointed, pretty much the same facial expression throughout, not a lot of eye contact with the judges (if at all).